Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion

The orchestra is a municipally founded professional ensemble that performs in two principal capacities: as the resident orchestra of the Israeli Opera and as an independent symphonic orchestra. Established in 1988, it began its opera role in 1989 and has combined opera productions with subscription concerts, touring, recording, and educational work.[1][2]

Its membership has included leading young Israeli musicians and immigrants who arrived in Israel in the late 1980s. Institutional profiles attribute its distinctive sound to the mixture of musical cultures represented among its players.[1][2]

Musical life in Rishon LeZion has a history stretching back to the early years of Jewish agricultural settlement in the Land of Israel. In 1895, Boris Osobitzky — a winemaker employed at the Carmel winery who had previously played in the St. Petersburg Opera Orchestra — founded an orchestra in the colony. It has been identified as the first orchestra established in a Jewish colony.[3] A song about the founding initiative included the rallying line, "Let us establish an orchestra here," reflecting the pioneers' cultural ambitions alongside their agricultural and economic work.[3]

This earlier body should be distinguished from the professional symphony orchestra founded in 1988. The 1895 ensemble was a well-organized amateur wind band with a paid conductor, an impressive institution for a young agricultural colony but a different kind of organization from the fully professional body that emerged nearly a century later.[4] The early orchestra was re-established in 1991 as the "renewed orchestra" and was subsequently conducted by Aaron Alkalai, Limor Shiponi, Yaakov Almog, and Michael Yaeran.[3] The available sources do not establish a precise legal or institutional relationship between that community-rooted tradition and the professional Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion.

The Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion was formally established in 1988 by the Municipality of Rishon LeZion. The Ministry of Education identifies the city's former mayor, Meir Nitzan, as its founder.[1] Other reference and institutional profiles identify conductor Shimon Cohen as the founder and first musical director.[5][2] The orchestra is described as the city's largest and most important creative institution and as a leading, innovative musical body with an international reputation.[1]

From its early years, the orchestra drew on leading young Israeli musicians and members of the large wave of immigrants who arrived in Israel from the former Soviet Union in the late 1980s.[1] A 1998 report described the ensemble as having been created for new immigrants from the former Soviet Union, who still formed its core a decade after its founding.[6] The different musical cultures represented among its players are credited with producing an individual sound that won appreciation from audiences and professional critics.[1][2]

One of the orchestra's most consequential institutional roles is its position as the resident orchestra of the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv. Beginning with the 1989–90 season, it became the house orchestra of the New Israeli Opera, performing works from the international operatic repertory at the Art Center in Tel Aviv.[5] The New Israeli Opera had been founded in 1985, and since 1990 the orchestra has taken part in all of its productions.[5]

This partnership has shaped the orchestra's identity and workload. A 1998 report said that it spent much of its time performing in the opera pit while also maintaining its own independent concert series.[6] A later report described it as the opera's house orchestra under musical director Dan Ettinger, who also served as music director of the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra.[7]

The breadth of its operatic work was underscored when postponed performances of Verdi's Otello were replaced by seven concerts of Verdi's Requiem. Ettinger called the Requiem "the perfect replacement" and said it allowed the chorus to remain employed, adding that "operatic pieces are our DNA."[7] In 2023, the orchestra accompanied the Israeli Opera Chorus and four Israeli vocal soloists in an original production built around Mozart's Requiem, conducted by German maestro Karl-Heinz Steffens.[8]

The orchestra has been led by a succession of conductors. Shimon Cohen, who founded the orchestra in 1988, was its first musical director.[5][2] In 1989, composer and conductor Noam Sheriff was appointed music director, a position he held until 1995.[5][9] A 1992 television interview featured Sheriff conducting musical excerpts performed by the orchestra.[10]

Asher Fisch followed Sheriff as musical director before Mendi Rodan assumed the role.[2] Sources give differing descriptions of Rodan's tenure. His Israel Prize biography says that he managed and conducted the orchestra from its establishment and lists his formal title of musical director and chief conductor from 1997 to 2005, when he became honorary conductor.[11] A Jerusalem Post report instead stated that he managed the orchestra from 1993 to 2005.[12] Rodan also held a professorship of conducting at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.[13]

Dan Ettinger subsequently served as musical director of both the Israeli Opera and the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion while also holding a position with the Stuttgart Philharmonic.[7] A 2019 review documented Daniel Oren's return to conduct the orchestra after an absence of nearly a year during which guest conductors had led the ensemble.[14] On the HaBama profile accessed September 25, 2026, James Judd is listed as musical director and chief conductor and Dan Ettinger as principal guest conductor.[2]

Guest conductors have broadened the orchestra's programming. In 2020, it hosted Chinese conductor Muhai Tang for a four-concert series featuring works by Tan Dun, the Academy Award-winning composer of the score for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.[15] In 2015, Stephen D'Agostino led programs in Rishon LeZion, Tel Aviv, and Rehovot that included the Israeli premiere of John Corigliano's The Pied Piper Fantasy, with Russian flutist Maxim Rubtsov making his Israeli debut in the work.[16] The program also included Betty Olivero's Adagio for Chamber Orchestra and Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony.[16] Ziv Cojocaru, a composer, conductor, and arranger who serves as Head of the Music Division at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, holds the title of Composer in Residence for the Israel Symphony Orchestra.[17]

The orchestra operates across a wide range of programming formats. Its calendar includes symphonic subscription series, chamber concerts, family concerts, programs for young audiences, Andalusian music concerts, concerts for older adults, and collaborative events with Israeli popular artists.[1][18] Artists who have appeared in its programming include Tislam, Yonatan Razel, and Ariel Zilber.[1] A live performance recorded at Tel Aviv's Heichal HaTarbut around 2018 featured Yonatan Razel with the orchestra, conducted by Dudi Zeba and with Kobi Aflalo as a guest performer.[19]

The orchestra was the first orchestra in Israel to perform publicly works by Richard Strauss and Alexander Zemlinsky.[2] Its released recordings include Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring; Richard Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra, Metamorphosen, and Don Juan; Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique; Mahler's Fifth Symphony; Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto; Beethoven's Third Symphony and Egmont overture; and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci.[2] It has also recorded works by Israeli composers, including Oded Zehavi's Israeli War Requiem, Menachem Wiesenberg's Cello Concerto, and Haim Permont's Lead Skies.[2] The ensemble regularly records for Israeli radio and television and has released compact discs recorded at public concerts.[2]

The 2022–23 season, its 34th concert season, featured works by Haydn, Brahms, Rachmaninoff, Bartók, Schubert, Rossini, and Tchaikovsky, along with chamber programming and family concerts at the Agam Museum in Rishon LeZion.[18] The season also included an event marking Rishon LeZion's 140th anniversary: the orchestra joined musicians from the Münster Symphony Orchestra, singers from the Lublin Musical Theatre, and singers from the Catholic University of Lublin Choir in performances of Mahler's Symphony No. 2, Resurrection. Approximately 170 musicians participated in performances in Rishon LeZion, Tel Aviv, and Münster.[18]

The 1991 musical compilation Ha-Erev Musical, produced in association with the Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv, featured the orchestra alongside Dudu Fisher, Rita, Shashi Keshet, Eli Gornstein, Tal Amir, Carol Markowitz, and Limor Shapira.[20] Works by Israeli composers have remained prominent in its activities. Ziv Cojocaru's compositions have been performed by the orchestra, while his arrangements are also performed by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, and Israel Chamber Orchestra.[17]

The orchestra performs at several venues across the Tel Aviv metropolitan region. Its primary home stage in Rishon LeZion is the Meir Nitzan Culture and Arts Hall.[18] It also performs at the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv, at Beit Ha'Am in Rehovot, and, for family programming, at the Agam Museum in Rishon LeZion.[18] The city's Culture Palace hosts performances, concerts, and plays, including appearances by the orchestra, and forms part of Rishon LeZion's role as a regional center of cultural and leisure activity.[21]

A milestone in the orchestra's relationship with Rishon LeZion came in early 1999, when it prepared to perform for the first time in its own home venue in the city. A 1998 report presented the occasion as a long-awaited homecoming for an ensemble embraced by the city even while spending much of its performing life in Tel Aviv.[6] Mendi Rodan was scheduled to conduct the January 1 opening concert, an all-Beethoven program anchored by the Consecration of the House overture, and the venue's inaugural season was planned to include six programs.[6]

The orchestra has developed a presence beyond Israel's borders. It has undertaken European tours both as an opera orchestra and as an independent symphony orchestra.[2] In summer 2008, it completed what its institutional profile describes as a particularly successful concert tour of Argentina and Brazil, earning favorable responses from audiences and critics.[2] It has also participated in international music festivals.[2]

Collaborations with international musicians have brought notable figures to its podium and stage. The 2020 series with conductor Muhai Tang and works by Tan Dun introduced Israeli audiences to contemporary Chinese orchestral repertory.[15] The 2015 appearance of Russian flutist Maxim Rubtsov in John Corigliano's The Pied Piper Fantasy — performed in Israel for the first time — exemplified the orchestra's role in introducing international repertory to Israeli audiences.[16] The 2022–23 collaboration with the Münster Symphony Orchestra and Polish choral ensembles extended its international partnerships through performances in three cities across Israel and Germany.[18]

Community engagement and music education are central to the orchestra's mission in Rishon LeZion. Its flagship educational initiative, Tzlil Rishon (First Sound), is designed to develop future audiences for classical music as well as future creators and performers by bringing the orchestra's musicians into direct contact with the community.[1] The program has operated for twenty years in approximately 125 kindergartens and schools in Rishon LeZion, reaching around 12,000 children between the ages of three and twelve.[1] A companion program, Tzlil Tikhon, extends the outreach to students between thirteen and eighteen.[1]

Musicians visit educational institutions from kindergartens through twelfth grade several times each year, performing chamber concerts in groups of three to six players.[18] Each visit includes specially prepared lessons and age-specific adaptations of the material.[18] The 2022–23 season continued this educational work alongside a chamber series and family concerts at the Agam Museum, reflecting the orchestra's sustained commitment to younger and broader segments of the Rishon LeZion community.[18]

The orchestra has received national recognition from Israeli cultural institutions. In 1991, only three years after its founding, it received the ACUM Award for outstanding work and excellence in performing, disseminating, and promoting original Israeli music.[2] It is described as a leading and innovative musical institution with an international reputation and is listed among Israel's established orchestras in a survey of Israeli orchestral life.[1][22]

Composer in Residence Ziv Cojocaru received the 2015 Prime Minister Award for composers, a 2002 ACUM grant for excellence in composition and arrangement, and a 2000 TAMUZ Israeli Music award for best instrumental performance on a recorded album.[17] The orchestra regularly collaborates with the Arthur Rubinstein Association and participates in the Israeli Music Festival organized by the Israel Music Institute, placing it within the national infrastructure of Israeli musical life.[1]

The ensemble's dual identity as an opera orchestra and an independent symphonic body is central to its institutional profile. Its European and South American tours, recordings, radio and television activity, performances of Israeli compositions, and sustained educational programming have contributed to its reputation in Israel and abroad.[1][2]

The orchestra's 36th season opened with a concert addressing the trauma of the October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks and the prospect of national recovery.[23] Families of hostages and bereaved families attended the opening concert, which included the world premiere of Haim Permont's South Red, a work inspired by the events of October 7 and incorporating texts by Eli Eliahu, Asaf Gur, Adi Balkman-Soffer, and Kadya Molodovsky.[23]

Throughout the war, the orchestra performed in reduced chamber ensembles for evacuees from northern and southern Israel, residents of the Eshkol Regional Council, medical teams, and wounded IDF soldiers.[23] The stated purpose was to respond to a cultural need and encourage emotional and spiritual resilience among those directly affected by the conflict.[23] These activities extended the orchestra's community mission into circumstances of acute national crisis.[23]

Published sources assign founding credit in different ways. The Ministry of Education states that the orchestra was founded in 1988 by the Municipality of Rishon LeZion and identifies former mayor Meir Nitzan as its founder.[1] Encyclopedia.com and HaBama identify Shimon Cohen as the founder and first musical director.[5][2] An Israel Prize biography credits Mendi Rodan with founding the orchestra and managing and conducting it from its establishment.[11] The sources do not reconcile these descriptions of municipal and individual responsibility.

Rodan's precise tenure also varies across accounts. The Israel Prize biography lists his formal role as musical director and chief conductor from 1997 to 2005, while The Jerusalem Post reported that he managed the orchestra from 1993 to 2005.[11][12]

Leadership information within the HaBama profile is internally inconsistent. On the page accessed September 25, 2026, its listing identifies James Judd as musical director and chief conductor and Dan Ettinger as principal guest conductor, while the older biographical text on the same page identifies Ettinger as the current musical director.[2] Daniel Oren's documented 2019 return to conduct the orchestra was a separate guest-conducting appearance and does not resolve that inconsistency.[14]